My Computer specs first Dual Core AMD and 2GB Ram
It may not be the greatest, but it's decent enough.
Ok first the positives:
Easy to use
Good search feature
Looks nice with the Aero Interface
Direct X 10 when it matures
Negatives:
General compatibility problems with my existing games even some of the latter ones. This seems to be a problem with every edition of Windows with older titles, but I just get the sense Vista is particularly bad. I would be naive to expect everything to work, but I didn't think it would be this bad in Vista. I believe Some of the problems lie with Vista's new security measures.
User Account control is probably the most annoying feature to ever be included in a MS Windows OS, but least that can be turned off.
Direct X 10 performance is down to the GFX manufacturers to improve I know, but buying Vista for this reason ( my main reason) may not be worthwhile just yet. Current games offer very little over DX9 Visually, but DX10 requires fast hardware. A 8800GT/GTX seem like the better cards for the job, but although they are hugely powerful DX9 cards, they are really only Mid-range DX10 cards. DX10 will become better over time with faster hardware and the Game Developers using the new features better. Don't buy on hype (my mistake).
occasional blue screens when Vista would do a crash dump before I could enter the OS, then my computer restarting
Some random freezing issues where Vista would lock up momentarily, could be a driver issue, but all my hardware is suppose to be compatible. Although I also own an Intel Dual Core laptop that had Vista pre-installed and I am still running Vista on this laptop because I only really use it for the net, but that also experiences random lock-ups.
Vista Feels bloated, which is unnecessary when some Linux OS Distributions feel more nimble and light. Even with all the aero candy switched off it's still a resource hog.
My conclusion is XP is an ageing OS from 2001, but it will run the majority of avaliable software. Although XP looks ugly compared Vista it is still a very capable and faster OS. Because it's older the operating system has matured over time with better stability and the bugs have been ironed out with Service packs. I actually feel like I have upgraded my computer re-installing XP. Vista on the other hand is rather new, so maybe it can be improved with Service packs.
Vista will eventually replace XP because new systems will have it pre-installed and new system builders will have little choice unless they want to try Linux. It will be the successor like every other edition of windows that has gone before it, but my whole point has been In my opinion there's little need to rush to install Vista when for now XP defeats it in almost everything.